1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to processes and, more specifically, to a method and apparatus for use in the dairy industry to effect the time in preparing a dairy cow for milking and the transference of mastitis in dairy cows.
While all of the causation's of mastitis are not clearly understood, it is well known that the transference of the disease commonly occurs during milking through use of bacterial infected towels or by using the same towel on more than one cow to dry the teats after cleaning. The present invention provides a disposable single use towel for this purpose.
Another aspect of the present invention is the single fold interleaving of a plurality of said towels. There are quarter fold disposable towels available but time is a precious factor in milking dairy cows and when a herd can number several hundred a reduction in milking preparation of ten seconds is a reduction in labor of an hour and a half in a herd of five hundred head. In itself a considerable reason for employing the method of the present invention but a more important aspect of the method of a single fold is that withdrawing a towel/wipe exposes the entire surface area for use as opposed to a quarter fold that may be used as is due to time constraints or incompetence. The present invention provides a towel/wipe of maximum surface area upon extraction without further manipulation that serves the function of ease of use and time required for service placement.
Additionally, the method of the present invention provides a container for a plurality of said towels/wipes that is attachable and detachable to a user performing the task of teat cleaning whereby the container comprises a housing having a dispensing port that optionally provides for closure and access to the container towel/wipe supply for replenishment and user fastening means, well known within the art, such as belt and/or fastener, such as a clip fastener. As an example, a fanny pack would suit this purpose. The present invention also provides a structurally mounted dispenser (e.g. post, fence rail, wall, etc.) having a plurality of said towels/wipes whereby a user can simply grab a hand full of said towels before commencing with the task.
The method of the present invention provides: retrieving a quantity of the disposable single fold towels/wipes of the present invention before teat cleaning; extracting a towel/wipe from the quantity and having the maximum surface area of the towel/wipe upon extraction available for use without further manipulation; wiping the udder teats until dry and disposing of the used disposable single fold towel of the present invention.
The apparatus of the present invention is a Nonwoven Airlaid or Nonwoven DRC (Double Recreped Cellulose) or 2-6 ply Scrim single fold, interfold towel with a basis weight between 40 GSM (grams per square meter) and 80 GSM, consisting of both virgin pulp (longer fibers) and also recycled pulp (broken or shorter fibers), in the dairy industry.
The dairy industry includes but is not limited to any structure or facility that produces milk for either human or animal consumption or facilities that process or pasteurize milk. These facilities include but are not limited to milking parlors, dairy barns, wash rooms, show barns, dairy hospital barns, maternity facilities, bull collection facilities and pasteurizing plants.
The Nonwoven Airlaid or Nonwoven DRC (Double Recreped Cellulose) or 2-6 ply Scrim single fold, interfold towel with a basis weight between 40 GSM (grams per square meter) and 80 GSM, consisting of both virgin pulp (longer fibers) and also recycled pulp (broken or shorter fibers), used in the dairy industry may be packaged loosely or banded in a variety of towel counts. The towels may then be dispensed by several methods including but not limited to fanny packs, wall dispensers, portable dispensers, pop up boxes, or manually without any dispenser.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are other devices designed for treating cows teats prior to milking. Typical of these is U.S. Pat. No. 2,125,618 issued to Nystrand on Aug. 2, 1938.
Another patent was issued to Valentine on Aug. 23, 1966 as U.S. Pat. No. 3,267,903. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 3,713,423 was issued to Spam Sr. on Jan. 30, 1973 and still yet another was issued on Apr. 7, 1992 to Stevenson as U.S. Pat. No. 5,101,770.
Another patent was issued to Zighelboim on Nov. 22, 1994 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,366,732. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 5,673,650 was issued to Mottram, et al. on Oct. 7, 1997. Another was issued to Saferstein, et al. on Jul. 6, 1999 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,919,471 and still yet another was issued on Dec. 5, 2000 to van der Lely, et al. as U.S. Pat. No. 6,155,204.
Another patent was issued to Bjork on Apr. 22, 2003 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,550,420. Yet another International Patent Application No. WO 00/56201 was issued to Keck, et al. on Sep. 28, 2000. Another was issued to Durden on Mar. 20, 2003 as International Patent Application No. WO 03/022965 and still yet another was issued on Dec. 7, 2005 to Radu, et al. as Canada Patent No. CA 2 529 236.